1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an individual animal identification apparatus for storing data for identification of individual animals and collating the features of the animals with stored data in organizations which individually manage animals, such as horses (for horse racing) or cattle (for livestock farming) and so on.
2. Prior Art
The identification of thoroughbreds in the racing tracks, auctions or breeding farms is done under the leadership of pedigree management organizations. The current identification method in Japan is by colors, white marks of the legs and the head. There are other methods, such as by blood types, brands or tattoos, which are used in some countries of the world. (References: "Uma no Chishiki" (Knowledge about the Horse) 11-3, "Uma no Miwakekata" (How to Identify Horses) pp. 153-154)
In identifying cattle, identification tags, such as collars or ear tags, brands or tattoos have been adopted in stock farms in general. An identification method of animals currently drawing attention is by the use of a micro chip (MC). A micro chip in this case is encapsulated in a glass tube, and buried in the body of an animal by using some injecting means, such as a syringe, and when an animal is identified, the buried micro chip is scanned with a non-contact detector to detect an output signal from which ID information of the animal is obtained.
In the above-mentioned prior art, there is a problem which must be solved. Identification by the colors, white marks, and whorls tends to be incomplete with horses without salient features or horses with similar features. Furthermore, there are possibilities that the brands or tattoos wear off or are falsified. It has been desired that those methods be improved partly from a viewpoint of prevention of cruelty to animals, such as, causing a pain or a festering wound to the animals. The identification by blood types is accurate, but the process takes time until a decision is made, and is expensive.
The use of identification plates entails the risk of being lost or stolen. As in the case of horses, brands or tattoos made on animals have possibilities of wearing off or being falsified. Even if falsification is found, it is difficult to prove where the animal belongs.
The MC method has advantages of semi-permanent effectiveness once a micro chip is planted in the body of an animal and also high convenience. This MC method, however, involves many problems: the workability of the MC and an acute pain during implantation, the local reactions, such as swelling, oppressive pain, festering, hypokinesia of the animal, clinical abnormality, the MC's tendency to move in the animal body, the operability, stability and reliability of the detector, and the variation of detection sensitivity. Many people have shown opposition to the adoption of the MC method from nothing other than the standpoint of preventing cruelty to animals. So, there has been demand for a more convenient identification method to replace the MC method.